The Oregon Ducks (18-8, 10-5 Pac-12) routed the Stanford Cardinal (12-14, 7-9 Pac-12) in a 78-65 game that featured some of Oregon’s best shooting of the season. 

The Ducks, having been unsuccessful in their last two ventures to Maples Pavilion, avoided their third-straight road-loss to Stanford on Thursday behind Jadrian Tracey’s season-high 20 points. 

After opening the game with a 7-4 lead, Oregon failed to score for over two minutes, as Stanford jumped all over the Ducks with a 8-0 run. 

The Ducks struggled to get their offense moving early in the game, but after Stanford’s run, they responded with a 8-0 run of their own, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Tracey and a couple inside buckets. 

After Oregon’s run, the Ducks couldn’t get a field goal to fall for three minutes, and their only two points in that stretch came from free-throws. 

The Ducks started to run the offense through N’Faly Dante much more as the half went on. Dante had six of his 13 points in the first half, and he shot 3-4. 

Dante’s interior defense was a welcome sight, as usual, as Oregon’s defense as a whole was much more formidable with its star center on the court. 

Neither team shot above 50% in the first half, as Oregon shot 48% and Stanford shot 40%, although each team was taking very makeable shots. Tracey led the Ducks with 16 of his 20 in the game. 

Tracey’s offense was the spark for the Ducks in the first, hitting four 3-pointers, all of which came at a time where Oregon really needed it. He reached his season-high for points in just his 10 first-half minutes. 

Oregon hit seven 3’s in the first half, as that accounted for 21 of its 40 first half points. The Ducks had a 40-32 lead going into the half behind their effective perimeter defense, which held Stanford to 4-14 from deep. 

The Ducks started the second half creating two quick turnovers, both of which they turned into points. Kwame Evans Jr. hit the first two of his three field goals in the game, which extended Oregon’s lead to 13. 

Evans sat the majority of the first half because he committed two early fouls and was in mild foul trouble. 

Stanford’s Bryan Angel had been effective in the first half, scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting, but Dante effectively shut him down in the second half, as he finished with 21. 

Oregon jumped out to a 17-point lead halfway through the second half amidst Evans’ eight points on 3-3 shooting and 2-2 from beyond the arc. 

Dante was also able to impose his will in the paint, as he opened up the first few minutes of the second by scoring five of his own, including an and-one. 

Jackson Shelstad was able to hit a lot of timely baskets, including two tough buckets as Stanford started cutting into the Oregon lead. Shelstad scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half. 

Oregon’s defense also continued to dominate the perimeter, which was the main reason that the Cardinal never found the momentum needed to really cut into the Ducks’ lead. Stanford shot 41% in the second half, as the Oregon lead ballooned to almost 20 points at times. 

It wasn’t that the Ducks were going on runs, it was that they were stopping the Cardinal in their tracks whenever they seemed to start a run. 

The Ducks displayed great game management throughout the second half, slowing down the tempo and making sure that any momentum gained by Stanford was stopped in its tracks. 

Oregon looks forward to Saturday, where it continues its Bay Area roadtrip with a visit to Cal (12-15, 8-8 Pac-12).